Van Gogh and the secret meanings of plants

Waldemar Januszczak | Waldemar.tv | 1st September 2025

A new book describing the symbolic meaning of plants and flowers in art. It emphasises happy connotations. Flowers have variously signalled purity (lily), love (rose) and wisdom (iris). Yet less happy associations abound. Van Gogh painted the poisonous oleander as a warning of danger. The palm, common is medieval art, signalled the choice of death over a pagan marriage. And mushrooms living in the dank undergrowth represented “sinfulness at the base of humanity”. Not quite a breezy summer read.